Label printers are used to print labels, such as shelf labels, tickets, stickers, and other patches, the information to be printed on a surface of the labels provided by a keypad entry and, alternatively, via a communication link between the label printer and a remote source of information, for example, a central computer linked to the label printer by a connecting cable or by wireless communication. Labels are generally provided in the form of a roll of web stock which is disposed within or on a label printer, where the web stock supports labels which have an adhesive backing releasably attached to one surface of the web stock, with the printing of the information to be carried out on a label surface opposite the releasably attached surface. The web stock and the releasably attached labels are transported within the printer along a defined path from the roll past a printing station which prints the information on the labels, whereupon the releasably attached printed labels are peeled from the web stock in a label peeler station and become available at a label exit port of the printer for application to a surface to be labeled. The web stock is transported along a web stock path to a web stock exit port of the printer.
From the point of view of a user of a label printer on a factory floor, in a warehouse, or in a retail establishment, at least the following aspects of printer performance merit consideration: (i) ease of threading a leading portion of the web stock from the roll of web stock past the printing station and past the label peeler station into engagement with a generally motor-driven web stock transport mechanism; (ii) ease of access to the web stock path past the printing station and the label peeler station so as to facilitate the clearing of jammed web stock and/or the clearing of jammed labels from these portions of a label printer; (iii) ease of access to a label path extending between the label peeler station and the label exit port of the printer so as to facilitate clearing of jammed labels from along the label path; (iv) ease of adaptation of the path length of the label path between the label peeler station and the label exit port to a new supply of labels having a substantially different label dimension along the label path; (v) ease of application of a printed label provided at the label exit port of the printer to a surface to be labeled.
Hand-held printers heretofore proposed do not satisfactorily take into account the aforementioned considerations; see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,267,800, issued on Dec. 7, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,227,617, issued on Jul. 13, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,061,947, issued on Oct. 29, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 4,264,396, issued on Apr. 28, 1981, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,274,902, issued Jun. 23, 1981.